Howick and Pakuranga Times : Howick and Pakuranga Times Thursday February 20

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28 — Howick and Pakuranga Times, Thursday, February 20, 2014
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IVAN AGNEW: Never can I recall a braver cricket captain’s knock than that of Black
Caps skipper Brendon McCullum’s magnificent marathon 302 in the second test at
Wellington’s Basin Reserve this week.
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THIS SUNDAY –
23RD FEBRUARY 2014
LLOYD ELSMORE PARK,
PAKURANGA, AUCKLAND
NEAR NEW RUGBY CLUB – 10.00AM START
FREEENTRY
Finest saved
until finale
BOTANY golfer Munchin Keh is the
LawnMaster Classic champion courtesy
of a sublime third round at Manawatu
Golf Club last Sunday.
Keh trailed Opotiki 14-year-old Tyla
Kingi by four shots going into the final 18
holes, after scores of 79 and 75 to open
the tournament.
The 21-year-old then shot one of the
best rounds of her young career, holing
six birdies in a five-under par 68 to win
by two strokes over Gulf Harbour’s
Onyou Kim.
“It was playing really hard in the
first two rounds in the wind,” said Keh,
following the victory.
“I played a lot smarter today. If I got in
trouble, then I took my medicine.
“I managed to putt really well and only
dropped one shot all day on 10. This was
definitely one of my better rounds that I
have had. Having to shoot five under to
be able to win, it is a good feeling.”
It is Keh’s third victory on the Charles
Tour, to go with the Muriwai Open and
Carrus Open titles last year.
MUNCHIN KEH
Photo supplied /
Simon Watts, BW Media
By DANIEL SILVERTON
COMING first and second in
consecutive years at the New
Zealand club sevens champi-
onship confirms Pakuranga United
as a heavyweight in rugby’s short-
er version as well as the 15-man
game.
Defending champions Paku-
ranga put the Middlesex County
Wavell Wakefield Cup and
national club sevens title on the
line against 11 other teams from
across the North Island at Bell
Park last Saturday.
The hosts got off to a flying start
in the opening match with a 24-7
win over Manawatu’s Kia Toa,
then a 21-12 toppling of Otahuhu.
“We were pretty happy to get
out of the pool of death in first
place,” Pakuranga sevens coach
Jason McLean told the Times.
“Kia Toa weren’t as strong as
expected in the first game, so it
was good to get a hard contest
against Otahuhu.”
Pakuranga edged past North-
land’s Awanui 10-7 and beat Papa-
toetoe 20-7 in the knockout stages
to set up a grand final against Tau-
ranga’s Rangataua, coached by
former NZ Sevens representative
Matua Parkinson.
“They’d been one of the better
teams all day,” says McLean, of his
opposition in the decider.
“I knew the final was going to be
a long day at the office.”
Pakuranga got out to an early
7-0 lead. However, clever restarts
helped Rangataua to a 21-7 advan-
tage at halftime.
“The quick try really got the
team going, but we didn’t adapt
quickly enough to the way they
were kicking off,” says McLean.
“From the sideline we could see
it happening and knew how to fix
it, but trying to get that message to
the boys when they’d been on their
feet for nine hours was hard.”
In last year’s final against Cov-
enant Brothers, Pakuranga trailed
0-19 at the break and went on to
win 33-19.
“I said, ‘we’ve been in this situ-
ation before, boys, it’s time now to
see who wants it the most’,” says
McLean.
Rangataua extended the margin
to 28-7 before stand-in Pakuranga
skipper Mark Dickison closed the
gap with two tries.
“At 28-21, I thought we were
right in this, but we threw an inter-
cept pass and they scored under
the posts. Full credit to our guys,
they never gave up and were still
fighting.”
Rangataua won 35-21 to become
the first Bay of Plenty club to claim
the title in its 63-year history.
Despite the result, Pakuranga
can look forward to continued sev-
ens success, with the introduction
of club newcomer Alesio Petelo
and school-leavers TJ Faiane and
Mitchell Hunt.
Especially pleasing were the vic-
tories over Auckland sevens cham-
pions Otahuhu and runners-up
Papatoetoe, making Pakuranga the
leading sevens and 15-a -side club
in the province.
“It’s huge for our club to prove
we are the top dogs in Auckland at
the moment,” says McLean.
“It would have been good to beat
Rangataua, but they are an incred-
ible team.”
Reason to celebrate in loss
SO CLOSE: Pakuranga United was defeated 21-35 by Bay of Plenty’s Rangataua in the final of the national club
sevens championship. Left, captain Mark Dickison touches down despite the tackle of Kia Toa’s Jordan Bunce, son
of All Black legend Frank. Right, Linford Hanipale grubber kicks ahead for a try against Awanui of Northland.
Photos supplied / NZSportPix.com